Ok, so I got rid of my 24V with headaches, and apparently picked up a 12V with someone else's headaches.. So, out of the frying pan, into the fire.I've been working out some kinks on this '97. I test drove it last friday, and from what I recall, it seemed to be fine.. Unless I didn't notice it (my fault for lack of due-diligence.)At any rate, the issue (for this thread) is the transmission.Story goes: 2 owners ago, dude bought a Jasper trans, installed it, killed it, warrantied it, killed that one, warrantied it, killed it, then Jasper said "this is your last one."so he pulled the 5spd from this '97, installed the Jasper auto in it, and stuck the 5 speed into the truck that he was using to kill transmissions.However, he did a ____-poor job, and sold it to last owner, who killed the poorly/improperly incomplete install in short order. So he took it to a diesel trans guy in MD, who rebuilt the Jasper trans using triple disc TC, red clutches, kevlar bands, HD valve body, etc. (parts from HTS Diesel).Installed a PCM (to replace a non-existant one) and rewired everything, so to speak, or so the story goes.Fast forward to me.. ( I don't need any "I told you so" type stuff, because I know. Believe me, I know.. One word: Wife. )I drove it home last friday, and all seemed well, although I did notice it seemed to rev a little higher to get it moving.. Granted, I'm new to autos, as my '01 was a manual, and the '96 before that, was manual, so I'm somewhat rusty on how they perform/react. Thought maybe the TC had a little higher stall.Last night, my 7 y.o. daughter wanted to ride around the block in the new dually.. Wish granted. That's when I noticed that something wasn't quite right... No low/1st gear engagement. Neither with shifter in D, or if I manually drop it to L (1), nothing, nada.. it seems to stay in 2nd gear or so.. I will add that if in D, at a stop, let off the brake and the truck starts to creep forward.. give a little throttle and drop it into 2nd, it feels to almost 'drop' a gear, as the forward progress seems to be a more positive engagement, but still no 1st. Driving 30mph, slow prepare for a stop sign, drop lever to 2, it downshifts.. drop to 1 from like 10mph, no gear change/drop occurs.. it stays in 2nd..TC lockup and such works, and with the 4.10s, 60-65mph yeilds about 1900-2000rpm.The Coolant Temp Sensor circuit is fubar somewhere, as is the tach in the I/C. The tach does read through the scan gauge, however, so the Crank Position Sensor seems to be operational.I was told this trans has a 3/36 warranty, but getting that info is proving to be a tad on the tough side..Trans looks fresh, complete with gray paint, Jasper stickers, etc., so it was apparently rebuilt in the Jasper case.Help. I need to troubleshoot this as inexpensively as I can, for obvious reasons.

What keeps O/D from locking are a bad brake light switch, bad trans temp sender or it's wiring or TPS. These instructions will tell you which wire is for the O/D: http://www.tstproducts.com/Torque%20Converter%20Lockup%20Switch.pdf

It's been really cold here the past week, highs in the high-teens.. I noticed Tuesday that it started doing something 'new'.. It shifts okay, for awhile. Then if I come to a stop and sit for a minute or so, it doesn't seem to want to engage 1st gear.. even manually, it doesn't want to do it. If I cycle the ignition, it seems to start using 1st again. I'm at a friggin loss with this damned thing...

What keeps O/D from locking are a bad brake light switch, bad trans temp sender or it's wiring or TPS. These instructions will tell you which wire is for the O/D: http://www.tstproducts.com/Torque%20...p%20Switch.pdf

You sparked a thought of something I'd forgotten.. Thank you! I used that diagram months ago to set up the lockup switch.. When I fixed some wiring on the PCM a week or so ago, I'd rewired the OD lockup wire back to original, as well as the TCC lockup. HOWEVER, I forgot to replace the relay and pull the jumper.. I just now went out to the parking lot and pulled the jumper and re-installed that relay. I'll see how it acts on the way home now.. :banghead::banghead:

Ok, it seems to be a little better for shifting. I still am forced to manually disengage OD in town, however, as it'll shift into OD early and slip badly under load. Over 30-35mph, and OD feels fine.Yesterday, we had an odd day, with clear skies and 70*F.. how weird..so, I took advantage and installed my new $21 RockAuto.com transmission line (the front one to side cooler), as well as used brass 1/2" union to repair the line that you're forced to buy from Dodge ($80) that goes from the forward one of the side cooler to the front-mounted cooler..The new line from rockauto needs a little tweaking to fit. It' a little short and over-bent, but I managed to get it to work and I do not see any future issues arising from the "adjustments" :)So after 3 or so months, I've finally gotten that line replaced. It's amazing how that small block-mounted trans cooler cools the fluid.. It must be hella efficient.

Sorry for the delays Rogan, I ended up getting stuck on night shift of a big shutdown the last 3 nights and havent tried calling Dean back. I finished my last night shift just a little bit ago, Ill get on the ball later on after I get some sleep and try to get you two hooked up by the weekend

Update:It still randomly decided to not downshift when coming to a stop. An ignition cycle clears the problem, but the code returns..

You will conquer this eventually. Weather has been all over the map up here too (Southern Ontario Canada).

Update: It still randomly decided to not downshift when coming to a stop. An ignition cycle clears the problem, but the code returns..

That sounds a lot like the orange/blk wire from the PCM to ground problem. The PCM grounds the lock up circuit to operate it so I would spend some time looking for a harness that is rubbing somewhere causing the wire for lock up to ground.

So I spoke (at length) with Craig @ Goerend yesterday. He says my 'cheapest' option, as I expected, was to go with a manual VB, but we're still looking at 650-750$..

Boy do I feel like a goon.... My apologies for not following through. I got stuck on a nightshift for longer than I expected working 14hr to 16 hr shifts and this completely skipped my mind. Do you still want to talk to Dean? Whats the theory with going to a manual valvebody and why so much $$$$?

Boy do I feel like a goon.... My apologies for not following through. I got stuck on a nightshift for longer than I expected working 14hr to 16 hr shifts and this completely skipped my mind. Do you still want to talk to Dean? Whats the theory with going to a manual valvebody and why so much $$$$?

Sure I'd still like to talk to him. Why so much $? No idea. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

I will most definitely get ahold of him. Ive never priced a manual valvebody, not sure what goes into them maybe thats the normal price Im not sure. Seems like mine was around 300 bucks? Give or take when Dean built my trans its been a few years now. So did they say why a manual valvebody will correct your problems vs a normal one?

I will most definitely get ahold of him. Ive never priced a manual valvebody, not sure what goes into them maybe thats the normal price Im not sure. Seems like mine was around 300 bucks? Give or take when Dean built my trans its been a few years now. So did they say why a manual valvebody will correct your problems vs a normal one?

Basically, it boils down to this:

my truck was originally a 5 speed truck. somewhere along the road, it was swapped to an auto, and the wiring/electronic controls portion is so butchered, it's insane. Going to a MVB would basically eliminate all of that. I manually shift it most of the time, anyway, due to the erratic shifting, so a MVB wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'd just have to reactivate my toggle switches for the OD and LU. But again, no big deal..

I'd definitely go this route, though, if I were to install a MVB..

Hey Rogan, did you get my voicemail last night?

Hey Rogan, did you get my voicemail last night?

Yes I did, good sir. Thank you!

Like I said, the best chance of getting ahold of him is after 6pm. He rarely answers his phone so youll have to leave a voicemail if his mailbox isnt full lol. Ive been at his house and watch him clear his mailbox out and tried calling him the next day and his mailbox is full and wont accept any more messages. And if he doesnt call back within a day or two dont be shy to call him again. Its nothing personal hes just that busy. Too many irons in the fire but he refuses to get anybody to help him.Hes expecting your call just tell him your a friend of JR

Spoke at length with Dean, JR.. I really like him; he tells you like it is (just like I do!)

At any rate, he gave me a shopping list of things to do and to get him some info. I'll have to try and catch up to my buddy tomorrow and see if he can connect his Snap-On MODUS to it..

He also told me a trick to adjust the TV cable properly.

Dean's afraid that the PCM is for the wrong year truck (i.e. for a 99-2000+, rather than a '97) but the MODUS will answer that for us.

Also said that the OD light (which is non-existant on my truck) is an integral part of the functionality, due to the resistance the bulb produces for the PCM on that wire (C3, pin 6)..

My cruise doesn't work, and he said that's also possibly due to the PCM and/or it's wiring.

The 4WD switch (turns the light on) also is supposed to be wired into the PCM. He fears, also, that the PCM isn't for a 4WD, but we'll find that out, too, with the MODUS).

At any rate, I have homework:

[*]Adjust TV cable properly

[*]Modus to determine year/make/model/engine/drivetrain

[*]Wire in a 168 or 194 bulb for the OD circuit on C6-p6 (LtGN/Org)

[*]Check for CC switch function via Modus

I'm going to try to get this all sorted tomorrow, hopefully, and call him back with results.

Thats good to hear, Rick. Dean is about as good as they come when it comes to an automatic transmission. I hope he can help you get it sorted out, sounds like hes got you off to a good start already! please keep us posted!By the way, its really got me baffled how you were able to get a hold of him the first night you tried! It takes me days sometimes Im gonna have to work on him about this.....

LOL I called about 8pm (CST) and he answered on 2nd ring LOLHe sounds extremely knowledgeable on these. 33yrs at it, though, and he should be! :)I'll definitely keep you all posted here.

FYI, we are eastern time zone in case your calling later in the evening

FYI, we are eastern time zone in case your calling later in the evening

Oh crap lol.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

- - - Updated - - -

So...

I went to my buddy's farm this morning, and he plugged his MODIS into the truck..

Here's what we retrieved from the PCM:

[TABLE=class: grid, width: 500, align: left]

[TR]

[TD]ITEM

[/TD]

[TD]RESULT

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]P/N[/TD]

[TD]05012993 AB[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]EMMIS[/TD]

[TD]FED[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]CHASSIS[/TD]

[TD]RWD-HD-AT[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]ASPIRATION[/TD]

[TD]TRBDSL[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]INJECTION[/TD]

[TD]DI[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]FUEL[/TD]

[TD]DIESEL[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]YEAR[/TD]

[TD]97[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]ENGINE[/TD]

[TD]5.9L I6[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]FAN[/TD]

[TD]None[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]HARDWARE[/TD]

[TD]JTEC[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]BODY[/TD]

[TD]BR[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]TRANS[/TD]

[TD]4-A/T[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

So, as you can see, my PCM is for an RWD truck, not a 4WD...

Wonderful..

I'll be calling Dean (JR's friend) in a little while..